Alt Legal IP News – Issue #108
Justin Wickersham | October 02, 2018
For Your Career
– A new study details the relationship between the government, specifically the USPTO, and the private sector. The study finds the movement of examiners from the USPTO to the private sector often correlates with the examiners’ patent grant rates at those companies.
– Can intellectual property laws impact career mobility?
– Steve Jobs licensed a patent for $1 million in one phone call.
Patent Updates
– A Federal Circuit court found an opioid addiction treatment patent to be non-obvious.
– A proposed bill would prohibit federal courts from charging for public documents, potentially eliminating PACER fees.
– WIPO has helped launch a new research tool aimed at helping agencies better understand the global patent statuses of medicines.
Modern Problems
– The Scholastic Awards have updated their copyright policy following pushback from a 14-year-old cartoonist.
– Are hashtag trademark registrations really beneficial?
– The makers of Instavoice are pushing back against Instagram’s trademark claims.
Odds and Ends
– Patagonia is having a fashion moment, making its trademark attractive for copycats.
– Dunkin’ Donuts is officially Dunkin’.
– This episode of 99% Invisible looks at the works of Lucia Moholy. Her photographs greatly contributed to the popularity of the Bauhaus but were often used without her permission and without credit.
– Bryan Adams is trying to change one word of Canadian copyright law.
– Following claims of likelihood of confusion, New Zealand ordered the destruction of over 100 boxes of impounded cereal.